general information

Address and Phone:
Cumberland Avenue
Bristol, TN 37620

Email: comments@bristoltn.org
Phone: (423) 989-5500

Farm & Fun Time WCYB Radio/TV

www.bristoltn.org/visiting.cfm

Bristol, TN

The Farm and Fun Time radio program, which was instrumental in bluegrass beginnings, now has recognition in downtown Bristol, on the Tennessee/Virginia state line. The thoroughfare previously known as Winston Alley has now been renamed as Farm and Fun Time Alley.

WCYB’s radio show Farm & Fun Time was an important radio show in the history of early bluegrass music. The station featured many of the finest bluegrass and old-time artists of the period. The show had a loyal audience base in Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky and West Virginia. It was a highly influential part of the lives of many people from the region, some going on to become major bluegrass artists themselves.

The fledgling Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys group found a niche on the program.

Broadcast live from a studio in the General Shelby Hotel, the program helped to establish the careers of other legendary bluegrass performers, including the Osborne Brothers, Jim and Jesse McReynolds, Mac Wiseman, Carl Story, The Sauceman Brothers, and Curly King & Tennessee Hilltoppers, as well as the brother duet act, the Blue Sky Boys.

Farm & Fun Time had a clear channel, a strong 10,000 watts signal, and the show received letters from listeners in five states. Begun as a 30-minute program, the show expanded to 90 minutes as more and more bands came to play. 

Directions: From State St., turn left on Martin Luther King
Jr. Blvd. Heading north, turn left on Cumberland Ave. and the site is on your left just before Lee St.

(The show was broadcast live from a studio in the General Shelby Hotel, which was at this site.)